Universal plug connector



Nov. 28, 1967 E. BARANOWSKI 3,355,697

UNIVERSAL PLUG CONNECTOR Filed Oct. 19, 1965 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 ATTORNEY E. BARANOWSK! UNIVERSAL PLUG CONNECTOR Nov. 28, 1967 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Oct. 19, 1965 M XWQYDMVQ ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,355,697 UNIVERSAL PLUG CONNECTOR Eugene Baranowslri, Forestville, Conn, assignor to Integrated Systems, Inc, Hartford, Conn, a corporation of Connecticut Filed Get. 19, 1965, Ser. No. 497,637 6 Claims. (Cl. 339-31) This invention relates to a universal plug connector and more particularly to an electrical plug connector for facilitating selective multiple phase or multiple circuit connections betweens prewired fixtures, such as fluorescent lamps.

In the construction of commercial buildings, a series of prewired, in line, fluorescent lighting fixtures of the single or multiple tube variety may be either recessed within a drop type ceiling or mounted flush with the ceiling proper. Where the supply of alternating current is of the single phase variety, proper circuit connection of a long series of such abutting fluorescent fixtures is often diflicult to achieve, but even where achievement is possible, the proper circuit connections involve a great number of electrical leads extending the length of the fixture series. In even larger buildings where the available power comprises three phase alternating current, it is often diflicult to properly allocate the fluorescent fixtures to the individual phases such that all of the phases are equally loaded.

It is, therefore, a primary object of this invention to provide an improved universal plug connector which has particular application to selective circuit or phase connection between abutting prewired electrical fixtures.

It is a further object of this invention to provide an improved universal plug connector which easily allows multiple phase or electrical circuit selection between abutting fluorescent fixtures with minimum hazard of electrical shorts or ground and in which the electrical connections between abutting fixtures may be readily changed with minimum time and effort.

It is a further object of this invention to provide an improved universal plug connector for facilitating uniform load distribution in a multiphase, prewired fluorescent fixture array.

The foregoing and other objects, features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description of a preferred embodiment of the invention, as illustrated in the accompanying drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of a prewired fluorescent fixture ceiling array using the universal plug connector of the present invention.

FIGURE 2 is an exploded, perspective view of the elements shown in FIGURE 1 utilizing the universal plug connector of the present invention.

FIGURE 3 is a partial schematic, exploded view of the electrical components of a series of abutting, prewired, fluorescent tube fixtures having a three phase alternating current supply including universal plug connectors of the present invention.

FIGURE 4 is an exploded perspective view of the twopart universal plug connector for selective phase or circuit connection between the electrical fixtures shown in FIG- URES 1 through 3 inclusive.

FIGURE 5 is a sectional view taken along lines 5-5 of FIGURE 4 of one part of the universal plug connector showing the electrical terminals carried thereby for receiving the variably positioned connector pins.

In general, the universal plug connector of the present invention comprises a pair of dielectric connector blocks which may electrically couple abutting prewired fixtures. Each of the blocks includes a plurality of electrically isolated terminals with means for connecting at least two electrical current sources to selected ones of said terminals on one of said blocks. The connector further includes first bus connecting means for connecting respective terminals of adjacent blocks for one current source and second bus connecting means for connecting respective terminals for another of said sources and for simultaneously selectively connecting said other source to a common terminal carried by one of said blocks.

In a specific form, the electrical terminals of each block include pin receiving apertures on opposed abutting faces. Through pins form the bus connecting means for aligned terminals for said one phase while the second bus connecting means comprises an H-shaped through pin having an L-shaped extension for selectively connecting said other phase to a central common terminal.

Referring to the drawings, there is shown in FIGURE 1 a ceiling 10 which has fixed thereto a series of prewired fluorescent tube fixtures in end-to-end, abutting relationship at 12, 14, 16 and 18. Each of the fixtures includes a rectangular box-like housing 24, 24', 24" and 24" carrying a pair of spaced fluorescent tubes 20 supported at each end by electrical coupling members 22. The present invention is directed to an improved, universal plug connector, which comprises, principally, a pair of rectangular blocks 26 and 28 formed of a dielectric material, as best seen in FIGURE 4. The fluorescent tubes 20 are electrically coupled to a conventional fluorescent ballast 30 supported centrally within the rectangular casing or housing 24. The specific manner in which fluorescent tubes 20 are connected to the ballast member 30 for proper ignition upon closing of an electrical circuit forms no part of the present invention as these devices and systems are well known in the art. It is important only to note that the ballast supplies the electrical power to the lamps and in return, electrical power is supplied to the ballast 30.

As mentioned previously, one end of the fluorescent fixture 12 has coupled thereto one half of the universal plug connector of the present invention, in the form of block 28 which is electrically coupled to another similar dielectric block 26 by means allowing selectivity of either phase or circuit connections to the respective ballast members, such as ballast 30, carried within fixture 12.

Reference to FIGURE 4 illustrates in perspective form the components of the universal plug connector. Plug block 26 is a duplicate of plug block 28 so as to be interchangeable therewith. Reference to FIGURE 5 shows block 26 as being generally rectangular in cross-section, but having a central raised face 38 and a recessed outer edge 36. A plurality of bores 40 are formed at a common radius from central bore 42 and pass completely through the block including the raised face 385. The bores 40 and 42 are counterbored at 43 and receive electrical terminal members 44 and a central or common electrical terminal member 46. All of the terminal members include a ferrule section 48 which is flared outwardly at 50 so to be snugly received within the counterbore section 43. At the face end 38 of the block, each ferrule section 48 includes a central bore 52 which acts to selectively receive a connecting pin to provide suitable phase or circuit connection. Flattened terminal sections 56 extend away from block face 54 and receive threaded screws 58 to effect internal fixture connections. All phase connections are effected within each fixture between end blocks 26 and 28 by means of internal leads 32 as a part of fixture prewiring.

Reference again to FIGURE 4 shows the method in which electrical connection and phase distribution to the prewired fixtures is achieved. For instance, a bus pin 60, in the form of a straight wire rod of copper or like conductive material, is received within the coaligned bores 52 of the terminal members 44 carried by respective blocks 26 and 28. Likewise, bus pins 62 and 64 provide :lirect bus connections between terminals 44 carried at the outer ends of respective blocks 26 and 28. The H- shaped phase or circuit selection pin 66 includes a straight rod section 68 to perform the same bus connection function between the coaligned terminals for the abutting blocks while also carrying an L-shaped extension section 70 having a straight pin section 72 which is received within the apertured common terminal 46 carried centrally of block 28. The common pin section 72 is joined to the bus section 68 of the selection pin 66 by a transverse section 73. The faces 38 of the respective plug blocks 26 and 28 have intersecting recesses 55 which act to receive the transverse section 73 to allow abutting contact between faces. Suitable phase and circuit selection is made simply by substituting one or more of the bus pins 60, 62 and 64 with a phase selection pin 66 which not only performs the direct bus connection function, but also taps the phase for suitable connection to the common terminal 46 carried centrally of the block.

The manner in which the phase selection is achieved to provide balanced load for a prewired fluorescent lamp fixture such as that shown in FIGURE 1 in which the fixtures are in aligned, abutting fashion, may be best seen by reference to FIGURE 3 which shows, in schematic form, the use of the universal plug connector of the present invention as applied to such an array. It is noted at the extreme right-hand end of the drawing that the lines A, B and C provide three phase connection to the series, while the line indicated at N is a neutral line for the three phase supply. In any case, plugs 26 and 28 shown as dotted lines are in abutting relation with bus pin 60 acting to connect aligned terminals for the neutral line N between respective block members while pins 62 and 64 provide bus connections for phases C and A respectively. The phase selection pin 66 acts to bus connect phase B between respective block sections, while also, by means of extension pin section 72, provides a phase source of supply to the fluorescent lamps carried by the fixture 12. In this respect, the pin section 72 is received within the common terminal 46 and connected internally by leads 74 to the primary 76 of the ballast transformer indicated within ballast 30 with a return lead 78 connected directly to the neutral line N. The secondary of the transformer 80 is connected to the fluorescent lamps in conventional fashion, The prewired fluorescent fixture 14 is coupled in abutting fashion to the end of fluorescent fixture 12 by means of plug connector sections 26 and 28 respectively. The same phase and neutral connection pins 60 and 62 are used for connecting neutral line and phase C, while pins 64' and 66 are interchanged so that the lamps carried by fixture 14 are connected not to the phase B supply but to phase A to distribute the load evenly throughout the series of fluorescent fixtures. As such, pin 64' acts merely as a bus connection for phase B with no load being coupled to phase B within the fixture. Phase selection pin 66' acts as a bus for phase A and by means of pin extension 72 delivers power to the transformer section of ballast 30 in like manner to the fixture 12.

The present invention is shown as being applied to a series of abutting, prewired fluorescent lamp fixtures which act to receive a three phase supply which is evenly distributed over the units so as not to overload any one phase. The present invention is applicable to other prewired electrical fixtures as well whose connections may be varied by easy interchangeability of the straight through bus connectors and the phase or circuit selection pins. It is noted that the distance D between sections 72 and the straight or in line bus section 68 of the phase selection pin 66 is equal to the distance between the axis of the bores for common terminal 46 and any one of outer terminals 44 for either block 26 or block 28. This is necessary to allow suitable phase connection to any one of the phases to the common terminal carried centrally of the terminal block. The universal plug connector may be used with prewired fixtures requiring multicircuit single phase or multiphase connections. Further, while the connections are made through the use of thin rod-like bus pins and phase connection pins which are received within apertured terminals carried by the dielectric blocks, it is not the intention to be limited to the specific type of terminals or bus connections.

While the invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to a preferred embodiment thereof, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes in form and details may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. A universal plug connector for selectively connecting a series of abutting, prewired, electrical fixtures carrying multiple sources of electrical current internally thereof comprising: dielectric connector blocks carried at opposed ends of each fixture, a central, common, electrical terminal carried by at least one block of each fixture, a plurality of electrical terminals carried by each block, surrounding said common terminal and spaced at an equal radial distance therefrom, means connecting said multiple sources of current within each fixture between selected ones of said radially positioned terminals, means connecting a load to said common terminal, bus connecting means for electrically bridging selected radially positioned terminals to eflect multiple current source distribution throughout said series of fixtures, and source selection means for bridging selected terminals of adjacent blocks to effect distribution of one of said current sources between any two fixtures while simultaneously supplying said selected current source to said common terminal.

2. The connector as claimed in claim 1 wherein said electrical terminals include wire rod receptive bores on the outer face of said terminal blocks and said bus connecting means comprises thin straight wire rods to connect axially aligned terminals carried by respective abutting blocks,

3. The connector as claimed in claim 2 wherein said source selection means comprises an H-shaped wire rod member having a main straight wire section acting as a bus connecting means for a selected current source and further having an Lshaped section coupled intermediate of the ends of said straight section with the free end there of received within said rod receptive bore of said common terminal to connect said selected current source to said load.

4. The connector as claimed in claim 3 wherein the lateral distance between the free end of said common terminal contacting section of said source selection means and the straight wire section is equal to the radial distance between the common terminal and any one of the radially offset terminals.

5. A universal plug connector for selectively connecting an abutting series of prewired fluorescent lamp fixtures to a three phase supply of electrical current carried thereby comprising: dielectric connector blocks carried at opposed ends of each fixture in abutting contact with connector blocks carried by adjacent fixtures, each block including a central longitudinal bore and four longitudinal bores surrounding said central bore, spaced an equal radial distance therefrom, the respective bores of said blocks being in axial alignments, electrical terminals extending through said bores, terminal pin receiving bores formed within the terminals on the side of said block extending away from its fixture, means connecting selected current phases within each fixture between selected, axially aligned ones of said radially positioned terminals, conductive pins received within the terminal bores of aligned terminals to effect multiple phase distribution and neutral connection throughout said series of fixtures, means connecting at least one lamp on each fixture to the central terminal carried by said fixture and an H-shaped phase selected pin for replacing one of said straight pins having a straight section for the selected phase connection between adjoining fixtures and an L-shaped section coupled intermediate of the ends of said straight section with the free end thereof being received within the terminal bore of said central terminal to connect said selected phase to said fixture carried lamp.

6. The apparatus as claimed in claim 5 wherein the face of each dielectric connector block is slightly recessed along lines passing through the axes of said terminal members along the face of said terminal block extending away from said fixture to receive the lateral section joining the free end of the L-shaped section and the straight section of the H-shaped phase connection pin to allow abutting control between blocks of adjacent fixtures.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,792,559 5/1957 Maberry 339-31 5 3,054,078 9/1962 Baschkin 339-19 FOREIGN PATENTS 450,174 7/ 1936 Great Britain.

10 MARVIN A. CHAMPION, Primary Examiner.

J. H. MCGLYNN, Assistant Examiner. 

1. A UNIVERSAL PLUG CONNECTOR FOR SELECTIVELY CONNECTING A SERIES OF ABUTTING, PREWIRED, ELECTRICAL FIXTURES CARRYING MULTIPLE SOURCES OF ELECTRICAL CURRENT INTERNALLY THEREOF COMPRISING: DIELECTRIC CONNECTOR BLOCKS CARRIED ATPOSED ENDS OF EACH FIXTURE, A CENTRAL, COMMON, ELECTRICAL TERMINAL CARRIED BY AT LEAST ONE BLOCK OF EACH FIXTURE, A PLURALITY OF ELECTRICAL TERMINALS CARRIED BY EACH BLOCK, SURROUNDING SAID COMMON TERMINAL AND SPACED AT AN EQUAL RADIAL DISTANCE THEREFROM, MEANS CONNECTING SAID MULTIPLE SOURCES OF CURRENT WITHIN EACH FIXTURE BETWEEN SELECTED ONES OF SAID RADIALLY POSITIONED TERMINALS, MEANS CONNECTING A LOAD TO SAID COMMON TERMINAL, BUS CONNECTING MEANS FOR ELECTRICALLY BRIDGING SELECTED RADIALLY POSITIONED TERMINALS TO EFFECT MULTIPLE CURRENT SOURCE DISTRIBUTION THROUGHOUT SAID SERIES OF FIXTURES, AND SOURCE SELECTION MEANS FOR BRIDGING SELECTED TERMINALS OF ADJACENT BLOCKS TO EFFECT DISTRIBUTION OF ONE OF SAID CURRENT SOURCES BETWEEN ANY TWO FIXTURES WHILE SIMULTANEOUSLY SUPPLYING SAID SELECTED CURRENT SOURCE TO SAID COMMON TERMINAL. 